beats per minute (10 page)

Raegan sensed it was not the time to ask about those Regents
who opted not to remain on active duty. Instead, clearing her throat, trying to
remain calm – five years! –
she
asked, ‘And when do we
get to hunt the Fay?’

Max chuckled; a rolling, delighted sound.
‘It’s good to hear you sounding so keen, Raegan. However, I might recommend you
to hold your horses, particularly in light of your earlier success.’ The
laughter left his face, like night sweeping over a bright sky. ‘The Fay are
deadly creatures; aggressive, merciless, and desperate to prolong their
existence. They also love the hunt. Their skill is not to be underestimated:
apart from also being able to mould time as you will learn to, they are strong
and fast. Most importantly, there is nothing they love more than to feed off a
Regent. Your essence, so much brighter than a normal human’s, is irresistible
to them.’

He got up. ‘I’ll show you.’

There was a rushing howl; the lights flickered; Con turned
as if he was about to say something to her; and suddenly she was on the floor,
and Max’s knee was pushing her head to one side. The angle of her neck was
agony, she thought it might break;
then
stars exploded
behind her eyes. She felt herself choking.

Then Max was standing behind his desk again, straightening
his tie. Raegan rolled onto her front and retched, her eyes watering fiercely,
her stomach heaving.

The veins in Con’s neck were bulging. She realised that he
had knocked over his chair in a violent motion; she had never seen him look so
angry.

‘How dare you,’ he howled. ‘You never touch her again, or so
help me, Max.’

‘It was necessary,’ Max said gently. ‘Calm down,
Con
.’

‘Why?’ Con’s booming voice filled the room. ‘I ought to
throw you out the damned window. I brought her to you in friendship, Max,
against the wishes of my son, because I thought she needed help. I won’t have
you harming a hair on her head.’

A dangerous light flared in Max’s eyes. ‘You don’t tell me
how to run things, Conall. It was your family’s meddling in Sentinel affairs
that caused this mess.’

With a roar, Con picked up his glass and threw it against
the window. The window did not even judder, but the glass smashed into a thousand
shards which rained down upon Max. He did not wince. Con advanced slowly.

‘By all means, keep moving closer,’ Max said silkily. ‘Keep
pushing me, and we will finally test who is more dangerous in a fight – an
Eagle, or a master Regent.’

Raegan could only watch as Con’s eyes began to roll in his
head. There was a ripping sound, and an awful fear paralysed her as it seemed
the dark tweed of his jacket was morphing, rising like a jagged volcano. Then
she looked closer. The jacket was ripping apart, not moving upwards; dark brown
feathers, like shoots through earth, were beginning push their way through the
seams of his jacket. His body started to tremble, and Max, as if answering some
unspoken question, fell into a fighting stance, his legs spread and slightly
bent, his chest forward, his arms outstretched. Fire crackled in his eyes; and
Raegan recognised the low, thrumming howl of wind that had accompanied all
those incidents when time had seemed to warp in front of her.

Hastily, she heaved herself to her feet. ‘No!’ She croaked,
throat sore and tight with terror. ‘Please stop! I understand what Max did – he
was showing me what the Fay could do to me and how I wouldn’t be able to defend
myself! I’m not hurt. Please, Grandda, don’t do this!’ Her voice cracked on the
last word, but she forced herself to keep moving forward, until she was between
the two men, the enormous heat of energy bursting from them nearly preventing
her.

Still they stared at each other, anger blazing. And then a
curious thing happened. The longer she looked at them, the more her fear ebbed
away, and a heated irritation at their pigheadedness began to rise.

‘What are you playing at?’ Her hands formed furious fists by
her side. ‘Grandda, you told me to trust you. And earlier
you
wanted
me
to calm down! Now look at you, fighting like an idiot! And you-
‘ she
rounded on Max. ‘You greeted Con like an old friend,
and he just let you get on with it, even when you had a go at me. He’s my
grandfather, my
blood,
maybe it’s not surprising that
he got upset. You’re supposed to be the head of this mighty Unit, where you do
such ‘crucial’ work.  So what’s your excuse?’

It was as if previously she had been held in the grip of his
power; even when she’d been scared, time had ceased to react to her mood as it
had before. Now, as their eyes locked, she felt as if something shattered
around her. She was achingly aware of her bpm. Her heart was thundering in her
ears and her vision began to fluctuate; then, it was joined by another, slower
heartbeat, and it felt as if that heartbeat was trying to overpower her own, to
will it to match its tempo. She didn’t know why or how, but, lost in
concentration, the brown eyes before her blurring into darkness, she fought it;
she commanded her heart to continue at its own pace. Max’s eyes widened
slightly, and, for a second, she felt the second heartbeat jump, increasing in
pace. Then his eyes narrowed and the heartbeat grew steady once more. The next
moment he had broken eye contact and moved away from her.

She collapsed forward, the energy which had been keeping her
centred now broken. Her hands stopped her from falling and she clutched the end
of the desk. Max’s control had been imposed once more, for though her heart was
jumping erratically inside, the atmosphere was smooth and unflustered.

Con’s hand was on her back. When she turned to squint up at
him, chest heaving, he looked as calm and unruffled as if the past few minutes
had never happened.

‘No feathers,’ she managed, nodding at his jacket.

A tiny smile appeared on Con’s face. ‘No feathers.’

Max, who had been looking out of the window, turned back to
them. He, too, was outwardly serene; only his long fingers, tightly clenched
around the whisky glass, betrayed him.

‘I’m impressed,’ he said quietly.

‘Me too.’
Raegan was still trying
to catch her breath. ‘But can we call a truce now?’

Now Max really did smile; the dimples that cut into his
cheeks were so long that the effect was almost goofy.  ‘That sounds like
an excellent idea.’ He gestured for them to sit down again, and then nodded at
Con. ‘No hard feelings?’

‘You’re alright,’ Con said gruffly.

All at once the tension drained away. Max stifled a chuckle.
‘What a couple of old fools.’

‘Speak for yourself.’ Con retorted good-naturedly. They
regarded each other without malice. After a pause, Max spoke.

‘Well, Raegan, that was quite something.’ He looked at Con.
‘She fought me, you know.’

‘I expect she gave you a run for your money.’

‘I wouldn’t go that far.’ A hint of Max’s old hauteur surfaced.
‘Still, you’ve got spirit, girl; and for a novice, there was a kind of grace to
your efforts.’

‘Thanks, I think.’
Raegan quirked an
eyebrow.
‘I suppose I should apologise for having a meltdown – for
another ‘teenage melodrama’?’

Max raised a finger.
‘Not at all.
You were whining before, like a little kid; I almost expected you to stamp your
foot. What you did just then was to show courage.
Nothing
wrong with that.
We can use that.’ He leaned back in his chair, resting
his fingers underneath his chin. ‘We’re going to have to work on your conduct,
of course. If you can’t bite your tongue around your tutors there’ll be hell to
pay. But I like your sass. I think you could do well here.’

‘That’s quite a compliment,’ Con said gently. He looked
pleased as punch.

‘Yes, well, don’t let it go to your head.’ Stretching over,
Max pressed a button and then spoke into his phone. ‘Send them in.’ He looked
up. ‘This is where it gets tough.’

‘What happens now?’ Raegan pushed her hair out of her eyes,
hoping that that same hand was not trembling.

‘You’ll see. Like I said, our year proper begins in
September, so you’re late. The majority of the Unit are training at one of our
other bases – we like to keep everyone on their toes by going on excursions
from time to time, mix up the climate, the terrain, etc. You’ll have the run of
the compound for at least six weeks – I’m sure you’ll find it suitable. We have
everything you need right on this fort: the most sophisticated equipment, and
some impressive facilities both in and out of doors. We even have our own
forest and obstacle course.’

‘A forest?
That’s... how?  I
mean, from the helicopter the Unit looked big and everything, but not
that
big.’

Max chuckled indulgently, which Raegan found a bit
patronising. It was a good point. The Unit
didn’t
look that big. ‘There
is a certain amount of magick at play. Our interiors are carefully disguised
from the outside, and the walls of the compound are extended and masked through
some clever distortion techniques. Did you notice the crystals?’

‘Yes! I was going to ask-‘

‘Protective enchantments.
They
create a sort of forcefield to keep our untrained cadets in check. With time
being linked to heartbeat you can’t be too careful – particularly with hormonal
teenagers around!’

‘But there aren’t any crystals in here?’

‘I require no such protection.’ Max’s voice was smug.

 ‘Forget that for now; it’s nothing you need concern
yourself with. You’ll soon find your feet. Like I said, most of our cadets will
be absent for the next month or so but a few of the officers and senior Regents
in training will give you an intensive induction.’

She couldn’t stop herself frowning, any more than she could
stop the questions forming on her lips. ‘Sorry if I’m being thick, but if most
of the Unit are at another base, who are all the commandoes?’

‘That’s not ‘thick’ at all,’ Max replied delicately. ‘Good
question. Those that you see in army uniforms are what we call Skippers – not
gifted. They come from the various families that the Regency passes down
through, but it’s skipped their generation. Still, they’ve dedicated themselves
to the Cause, and we’re grateful to have them.’

The lift pinged and Raegan and Con swivelled in their seats
because Max’s concentration was instantly focused on the opening doors. Out stepped
a man and a woman, entering the room with purpose and familiarity. The
self-assurance that radiated from them was amazing to Raegan. They couldn’t be
more than twenty or twenty-one, she guessed; only a few years older than
herself and yet light-years ahead in confidence. They were dressed exactly the
same, head to toe in sleek black – zip up, funnel necked jackets and fitted
trousers – with the holsters attached to their waist and thighs providing the
only bulk: but they couldn’t have looked more different. The man was imposing,
with black, unruly hair, glinting eyes, and slightly tanned skin. He could also
give Con a run for his money in terms of size; Raegan estimated he had to be at
least six feet four inches tall, and he was built like a wall. The woman was
probably a foot shorter, with a curvy, athletic figure, delicately patrician
features and glossy brown hair in a long plait down her back.

On the other hand, they matched each other in both
attractiveness and the fierce scowls which stretched their faces.

‘Bree, Warwick.
News?’

‘Mission accomplished.
Standard disposal.
’ The woman’s voice cut through the air like a knife through butter, and Raegan
was suddenly reminded of newsreaders on BBC Radio 4. The newsreader suddenly
lost her sense of propriety, though, voice sinking to mutter: ‘Of course, we
wouldn’t have taken quite so long if it wasn’t for
some
people.’

The man bit in immediately, his southern drawl leaping with
agitation. ‘Oh, sure, like your shoddy piloting had nothing to do with it.’

‘To what are you referring?’ Bree said icily.

‘Sir,’ Warwick turned to Max, ‘You might want to instruct
one of the Skips to take a look at Chopper 5 – I think they’d find there’s a
dent on the right hand side and that the aileron may well be missing.’

‘That was probably caused by your friendliness with the
trees on the way down! We practically crash landed...’

Max let them continue for a few seconds before halting their
argument as swiftly as a pin popping a balloon. ‘Enough. Why you think I’d be
interested in these childish details, I have no clue. Do you have anything
useful to report? Not that your little bout of foreplay wasn’t simply
scintillating – but some of us have real work to do.’

They felt silent, though Bree’s expression was mutinous.

Warwick hid his frustration a little better. His voice
sounded almost normal when he finally replied. ‘Subject was found in the same
bar as reported. We tracked him separately. I arrived just after Clifton
engaged the subject.’ After a second, he added, grudgingly, ‘She had him very
well under control.’

The conversation continued in a similar way for several
minutes. The details were hammered out quickly, in a shorthand that was
impossible to understand; Raegan heard the words ‘brain’ ‘body’ and ‘heart’ more
than once, but these familiar words were used in the most unfamiliar way. In
the end she worked out that the pair had been sent somewhere to capture an
enemy. They had succeeded.

Gradually she had the growing sense that several pairs of
eyes were now focusing on her. She looked at Con first, and then Max,
embarrassed to have been caught out.

‘I asked you if you were happy,’ Max was smiling again.

‘About what?’
Raegan had no choice
but to be honest.

‘Why, I would have thought that was obvious. Bree and Warwick
took care of your little problem, after all.’